The cleaning of stables and pens is a difficult problem. Typically, over the course of a period of time, animal wastes and animal food products will accumulate within the stable or pen area. Often, such food and/or waste will become mixed with hay within the stable. It is often necessary to use rakes and pitchforks so as to properly separate the waste material from that of the hay.
Typically, the cleaning of such wastes will require a person to lift the waste material and carry the waste material to a trash or waste container. The lifting and movement of such material is very time consuming and tiresome. Often times, the storage and waste container is positioned a relatively far distance from that of the stable or pen. In other situations, it is necessary to continually sweep or accumulate such waste into a central area. As a result, the cleaning of stables and pens can take a great deal of time and effort.
Heretofore, there have been no devices that allow for the accumulation of such waste material during the cleaning activity. It would be desirable to collect such waste materials and then transport such accumulated wastes to a disposal container.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/390,130 describes a cleaning device for stables which has generally tubular body sections. After experimentation, it was found that the interior flaps had difficulty moving on the interior of such tubular body portions. Circular-shaped flaps cannot fully pivot within a circular cross-section. As such, the present invention was developed to overcome this difficulty.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that effectively allows for the cleaning of stables and pens.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device that effectively accumulates the wastes during the cleaning activity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that is easy to use.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that is relatively inexpensive and easily manufactured.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.